Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic
calendar and the rigid observance ofthirty days
of fasting during the daylight hours, has pagan roots developed inIndia and the Middle
East. The observance of fasting to honor the moon, and ending the
fast when themoon’s
crescent appears, was practiced with the rituals of the Eastern worshippersof the moon. Both Ibn al-Nadim and the
Shahrastani tell us aboutal-Jandrikinieh,
an Indian sect which began to fast when the moon disappeared andended the fast with a great feast when
the crescent reappeared[i][1].

The Sabians,
who were pagans in the Middle East, were identified with twogroups, the Mandaeans and the
Harranians. The Mandaeans lived in Iraq during the2nd
century A.D. As they continue to do today, they worshipped multiple gods,or “light personalities.” Their gods
were classified under four categories:“first
life,”“second life,”“third
life”and “fourth life.” Old
gods belongto the “first life”
category. They summoned deities who, in turn, created “second life”deities, and so forth.

The other group, considered as Sabians, were the
Harranians. They worshippedSin, the moon, as their main deity, but they also worshipped planets and
other deities. The Sabians were in contact with Ahnaf, an
Arabian group which Mohammed joinedbefore claiming to be a prophet. Ahnaf sought knowledge
by going to NorthernIraq, where there were many communities of Mandaeans. They also went to
thecity of
Harran in the al-Jazirah district in northern Syria on the borderbetween Syria, Iraq and Asia
Minor.

In Mecca, the Ahnaf were called Sabians because of the
doctrines theyembraced. Later, when Mohammed claimed to be a prophet, he was called a
Sabian by theinhabitants of Mecca because they saw him performing many Sabian rites
whichincluded
praying five times a day; performing several movements in prayer thatwere
identical with the Mandaeans and the Harranians; and making ablution, orceremonial
washing, before each prayer. In the Qur'an, Mohammed called theSabians “people of the book”
like the Jews and Christians.

Ramadan was a pagan ceremony practiced by the Sabians, whether
they wereHarranians
or Sabians. From the writings of Abu Zanad, an Arabic writer from Iraqwho
lived around 747 A.D., we conclude that at least one Mandaean communitylocated
in northern Iraq observed Ramadan[ii][2].

Ramadan was Originally an Annual Ritual
Performed at the City of Harran. Similarities Between the Ramadan of Harran and
the Islamic Ramadan.

Although
the fasting of Ramadan was practiced in pre-Islamic times by the pagansof
Jahiliyah, it was introduced to Arabia by the Harranians. Harran was a cityon the
border between Syria and Iraq, very close to Asia Minor which, today, isTurkey.
Their main deity was the moon, and in the worship of the moon, theyconducted
a major fast which lasted thirty days. It began the eighth of March andusually finished
the eighth of April. Arabic historians, such as Ibn Hazm, identifythis
fast with Ramadan.[iii][3]

Ibn al-Nadim wrote
in his book, al-Fahrisit, about various religious sectsin the Middle East. He says in
the month in which the Harranians fasted for thirtydays, they honored the god
Sin, which is the moon. Al-Nadim described the feasts they celebrated and the
sacrifices they presented to the moon.[iv][4] Another historian, Ibn Abi Zinad also speaks
about the Harranians, saying that they fast for thirty days, they look toward
Yemen when they fast, and they pray five times a day.[v][5]We know that Muslims also pray five times a
day. Harranian fasting is also similar to that of Ramadan in Islam in the fact
that they fast from before the sun rises until the sunset, just as the Muslims
do during the days of Ramadan.[vi][6] Still another historian,
Ibn al-Juzi,described the Harranian
fastingduring
this month. He said they concluded their fasting by sacrificing animals andpresenting
alms to the poor.[vii][7]We also find these things in Islamic fastingtoday.

Mythological roots concerning Harran’s celebration of the moon
explained the disappearance of the moon after it joined with the star cluster,
Pleiades, inthe constellation of Taurus. It occurred during the third week of March.
Thepeople
prayed to the moon, pleading for its return to the city of Harran, butthe moon
refused to return. This is thought to be the explanation for why theyfasted during
this month. The moon did not promise to return to Harran, but itdid promise to return to Deyr
Kadi, a sanctuary near one of the gates ofHarran. So after this month, the worshippers of Sin, the
moon, went to Deyr Kadito celebrate and to welcome the return of the moon.[viii][8]According to Ibn
al-Nadim, the historian mentioned earlier, the Harranianscalled the feast al-Feterعيد
الفطر , the same name by which the feast of Ramadan
isnamed[ix][9].

In addition to the feast during
Ramadan, the Harranians had five prayerswhich they repeated day and night. Each had to be
preceded by ablutions, whichwere ceremonial washings.[x][10]The same system of five prayers each day,
preceded byablutions, was embraced by Mohammed.

The fasting
of Ramadan spread from Harran into Arabia. This may have occurred after the
occupation of Nabonidus, the Babylonian king, to the north of Arabia, around
the year 552 B.C., during his sojourn in the city of Teima. Nabonidus was from
the city of Harran. He was a fanatic worshipper of the moon, Sin, and his
mother was a priest of Sin. He disagreed with the priests of Babylonia who
considered the god, Marduk, as the chief of the gods of Babylonia. Nabonidus
was eager to spread the worship of Sin, the moon, as the main deity. So he left
his son in charge of Babylonia and went to live in Teima in North Arabia.

In pre-Islamic times, Ramadan became a pagan Arabian ritual and was
practiced by the pagan Arabians with the same features and characteristics as
the Islamic Ramadan.

Ramadan
was known and practiced by the pagan Arabians before Islam. Al-Masudisays that Ramadan received its name
because of the warm weather during thatmonth.[xi][11]

The pagan
Arabians in the pre-Islamic Jahiliyah period fasted in the same wayMuslims fasted, as originally directed
by Mohammed. Pagan Arabian fastingincluded
abstinence from food, water, and sexual contact – the same as practiced byIslam. Their fasting also was done in
silence. There was to be no talking, not evenfor
a short period of time such as one day, or a longer period of time of aweek or more.[xii][12]The Qur’an points
to the same kind of fasting when, in Surah 19, it describes God instructing the
Virgin Mary to say that she vowed to fastbefore
God, which also meant she couldn't’t
speak to anyone[xiii][13]. The Arabian practice of keeping silent during the fast
noticeably influencedthe customs
of the Qur’an. We are told that Abu Baker approached a woman amongthe pagan worshippers in Medina. He
found her fasting, included abstinencefrom
speaking.[xiv][14]Fasting was a
serious matter for the Arabians, enforced with lawsrequiring
severe penalties for failing to abstain from talking. Ramadan inIslam is a continuation of this kind of
fasting.

Mohammed imposed
on his followers many religious rituals from the two tribes of Medina who
backed him in subduing the Arabians to Islam. Among such rituals was Ramadan.

It
seems that Ramadan was practiced in many cities in North Arabia whereNabonidus,
the Harranian king of Babylonia, ruled. One of the cities he occupiedwas
Yathrib, which later became al-Medina. Mohammed imposed Ramadan fasting, as
well as the ritual of praying toward Mecca instead of Jerusalem, after he
emigrated to al-Medina, whose Arabian tribes used to pray toward Mecca, just as
it seems they used to fast during Ramadan.[xv][15]Mohammed adjusted his ceremonies to fit the
religious rituals and customs ofOas and Khazraj, the two tribes from al-Medina who
backed Mohammed in his wars against the Arabians. One of their ceremonies was a
weekly religious feasteach Friday. Mohammed made this day the religious day of Islam.

Ramadan
is not true fasting, because the participants still eat their mealsduring
the night. Since the ritual allows them to eat while it is dark, theysimply
eat a large meal in the late evening and wake up early in the morning foranother big
meal. In other words, they simply change the time of their mealsfrom daylight to darkness.

The hypocrisy continues during Ramadan in the kind of
meals they eat. Ratherthan simple meals which they have during the year, they arrange for
elaboratemeals,
spending sometimes triple or more money on food during Ramadan than inany
other month. In reality, it’s not true fasting, but an excuse foreating extra in the month they
claim to be fasting.

Fellowship with God is notbased upon arduous or
deceptive religious practices. Neither is
fellowship with God granted through religious practices. Acriminal who is required to
appear before a court to receive justice doesn’t gainthe judge’s favor by practicing
religious rituals. Being religious doesn’tannul the criminal act he
committed. In the same way, as a sinner, man doesn’t obtain the favor of God by
doingreligious
rituals or by fasting.He can’t avoid
the justice of God and thecondemnation that awaits him because of his sins. A Holy God refuses to
havefellowship
with sinners, even though they perform many religious practices.

However, God has provided salvation to mankind when He
sent His Son in human flesh to die on a cruel cross in order to pay the penalty
demanded for sin. The only way for a person to have fellowship with God is to
believe in theredemptive work of Christ. In so doing, the repentant sinner finds that
his sinswill be
removed, and the righteousness of Christ will be imputed to him. Then theSpirit
of God is given to him so that he can fellowship with God spiritually, and for
eternity.